1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for supporting successive siding strips as they are being installed along a vertical wall surface.
2. Background of the Prior Art
External wall surfaces of buildings, both commercial and residential, are often sided with prefabricated siding strips most frequently made of metal or plastic. The siding strips are prefabricated with edges that interlock. Usually, the bottom longitudinal edge is underturned and the top longitudinal edge is folded to produce an overhanging longitudinal edge into which the underturned edge of the adjacent piece is interlocked and which hides any connection between the two pieces. The extreme top edge of the strip is nailed or stapled to the wall before the lower edge of the next higher piece is interlocked into the upper edge to cover the seam between the pieces.
Installation is from the bottom up and the successive siding strips are placed in horizontal orientation along the wall surface. Although a solid wall surface is produced when the individual siding strips are fastened to the wall and interlocked, the individual strips themselves are relatively narrow in width in comparison with their length. They are lengthy thin strips that are difficult to handle. It is not unusual to have some that may be 65 to 75 feet long and only about a foot wide. These rather lengthy narrow siding strips are very difficult for one or even two men to install upon a wall surface. Each strip must be supported in its horizontal position, with its seam fully interlocked, while a fastener is started into the wall through the siding strip to hold it in position. If the piece slips while it is being fastened, a defect is created and the succeeding strips may be out of level. Damage may occur.
It is highly desirable to provide an apparatus for supporting each sequential horizontal siding strip in position, with its lower edge in interlocked contact with the upper edge of the previous strip in order to provide a sure, quick and cheaper installation with a smaller crew and with fewer defects due to faulty installation procedure. Such a device must be adjustable in order to accommodate siding strips at a plurality of elevations as the strips are laid up along the wall surface. Such a device should be quickly and easily engageable and disengageable with a given siding strip without clamps, screws, suction cups or other mechanical apparatus. Significant labor saving has important consequences in fostering economic construction.